A Week of Conferences

Dear Family and Friends,
Its Easter Sunday and after a week of being gone from our "home" here in Dublin, we are glad to be back.  We had some marvelous experiences, but since it wasn't a vacation  we are glad to get our bags unpacked and be snug in our little cottage again.  We miss family the most with holiday time, ---and Grandpa missed being able to impose the "Grandpa tax"  on the kids' Easter baskets!  We were amazed at the quantities of chocolate being sold,---- and the grocery stores seem to be in competition of who could have the fanciest Easter billboards about chocolate egg hunts, so we think the Irish children must have tummy aches without Grandpa to help them.

Easter holiday has been a big event here in Ireland because of the celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the Irish revolution.   We didn't realize it at the time, but he children have been out of school since St. Patrick's Day, and will be out all this coming week as well.  We heard that the St. Patrick's Day Parade was not as big as the Easter Rising Parade, but we don't know for sure since we have been in "enemy territory" (England and Northern Ireland ) the entire time of celebration.  The cemetery across the street was scheduled to have some significant events with the 'Easter Rising', because some of the most renowned war patriots are buried there.  We were quite interested in going over to watch for resurrections, but we don't think that was actually in the plan. :)   It seems Easter is far more about the Easter Bunny and the Revolution than the Atonement. 

We have been speaking and presenting in wards throughout Ireland for the last 3 months, so this morning we were happy to be able to attend our "own ward" for Easter Sunday.  The talks were so good and seeing our friends was a special treat.  Although we are rarely here on Sundays, we have been involved with some wonderful people here and it was nice to see them.  One man teased us about being less active, but we told him we are very active Christians.  We attend on both Christmas and Easter.  (for you grandchildren who don't know;  many people think they are religious if they attend their church that much.  There are so many huge and beautiful church buildings all throughout Ireland--but they are mostly very old and now not used much at all.   We wish we could help the people see the importance of faith in their lives, but some years ago the issues with Catholic Priests really turned the people against religion.   We know that is not unique to Ireland, but it seems especially significant here. 

Most of the people who seem to be taking lessons from the missionaries are immigrants.  These immigrants are mostly not the refugees that are such a concern, but nevertheless people looking for a better life here and are looking for a better life in all ways ---including religion.   When we came home today one of our investigator friends told us how much he missed us, since we were gone all week.  He had some tough times to sort out and missed being able to talk to us about the challenges he had.   It really touched out hearts and we felt the same for him.  We realized that missionaries are truly given the blessing of a special measure of Heavenly Father's love (Charity) for His children.  It is a joy to experience this special portion of love.   We know you who have served as missionaries know what we are talking about---and you who are yet to serve can look forward to that blessing.  

 

We left for London for our Self Reliance Conference on Monday morning.  The conferences are scheduled for every six months--although maybe not always in the same location.  We rather wish they would be the same place so we could get more efficient with the travel arrangements.  It takes awhile to know the tricks of the connections.  We caught a plane to Gatwick (London), a train to Victoria Station (which seemed like we could have been in the Harry Potter movie) and then the subway to Kensington which was then walking distance to the famous Hyde Park Chapel.  It was so fun to be there for our meetings.  The Chapel is a four story building (modern and LDS style) right in the middle of a very expensive area of London.  We walked past embassies and national museums and even got to go in one museum for 30 minutes before our meetings started.  The Chapel is the most used building in the church (we heard).  It has a Visitor's Center,  2 stakes, 4 wards, a mission office, Self Reliance Office, a Public Affairs Office, and a YSA center!    We met an Elder and Sister who are working there from Idaho Falls that know Kent and Patrice. 

 

Our meetings were a gathering of all the SR couples from the UK and Ireland, and the Area Directors from Frankfurt, Germany.  The training was done by our two Self Reliance Managers for the area.  We enjoyed meeting all the couples and sharing ideas and needs, but we also received a lot of training.  Most of us stayed in the same hotel which was a nice Holiday Inn.  The weather while we were there was quite pleasant, unusually sunny for London, and made walking around enjoyable.  On Wednesday night we were lucky to be able to all go down to the Parliament area.  Since it was Grandma's first time in London, seeing Big Ben was a thrill, but even better we met with an LDS MP (Member of Parliament) who took us on a private tour of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and the connecting Parliamentary Hall with wonderful historic features.  We saw floor plaques of things that happened on that very spot both modern and very old, such as the trial of Sir Thomas Moore and the beheading of King Charles the 1st. 

 

The MP knew we were all Americans so he pushed the nobility of England's government over the seeming chaos that America is now experiencing, making for a little light humorous banter.  The traditions of Parliament are very set, even to the point that you cannot sit on any of the benches (there are signs to be sure you don't)  and protocol for almost everything done.  The night monitor was dressed in traditional long magistrate style robes and made sure we didn't do anything out of order, but we did have a little fun standing where the debaters face each other across the table.  We saw the Queen's throne for when she attends, and smaller thrones for her husband and the Prince.  Of course it was all very ornate and very old.  We were not allowed to take pictures in the parliament but we will share some of the other areas where we could do photos. 

 

We got home on Thursday evening in time to teach a finance class, and work a little more on our presentation for the YSA Conference.  We were not officially  asked to do a seminar for the YSA Conference very much before we left for London, (because the young adults were in charge)  so we needed to do more preparation before we left the next day.   Elder Herbertson of the Seventy spoke to us in London emphasizing the need to especially work with the Young Adults, so we were glad we could include parts of what he taught along with the plans we had started, but it kept us hopping to get it done and get ready to leave Friday afternoon.  

 

We also had to stop awhile to get oriented on our new car that was finally delivered.  It doesn't seem much different, still very small, but it is a Hyundai so maybe it will be better.  One feature of our old car was the "suicide doors" that open from the front to the back.  We had one passenger man who truly hated riding in it for fear a door would open by accident and he would go out!

 

As for the Conference in Belfast, we weren't really impressed with the organization but we will wait to hear what the YSA think.  We had 14 YSA go, which even though it was a little expensive, was a full 1/3 of all who attended.    We arranged bus fares for most of the "kids" and took 3 with us in the car.  They had members of the stake host them for two nights, but they forgot to get a place for us.  We were okay with getting a hotel, but it was a little bit of stress until we got there--then we were glad we could have more time to prepare.  On Saturday we presented twice, ate a little lunch and left to go do a missionary flat check and visit with our Stake Specialists in Belfast.  Then we came home--and lucky we did because we both started to feel pretty "shot" and have taken it easy all day to ward off flu symptoms.

 

We hope you all had a fun and wonderful Spring Break.  We are glad to be busy because we miss you especially at holiday times.  It would help if you could arrange to send the "Grandpa Tax" of Easter candy directly to us here.  (Just kidding!)

 

Love to all,

 

Grandma and Grandpa

Mom and Dad

Lynne and Lanette

 A display of humming birds in the Natural History Museum, near the Hyde Park chapel.

 Entering the "center of the earth" in the Natural History Museum.

 The couple on the right is Elder and Sister Reuckert from Frankfurt (their home is in Salt Lake).  They are the Area Directors for Self Reliance.  On the right is Les Pointer.  He works for the Church as Area Manager, and lives in England. (He is our direct boss.)

 This is looking out the window of our training room in the Hyde Park chapel.  This is a group of elementary students "queuing up" to go in the Science Museum.

 Here is the group of Self Reliance Specialists from England, Scotland, and Ireland.

 In front of the Hyde Park chapel.  The Christus looks out on the street.  Neat, huh?

 In front of Parliament building, downtown London.

 In front of Parliament with Les Pointer.

 In front of the "Queen's Tower" attached to the House of Lords in the Parliament building.  When the Queen opens Parliament, she enters on the street level of this tower. 

 Another view of the Parliament building.

 That's Big Ben in the background, overlooking Parliament.

 We tried to get the sound of Big Ben, but didn't do very well.

 Another shot of Big Ben in the background.

 A "bobbie" directing traffic in and out of the Parliament building.

 Bobbies in front of Big Ben.

 Another shot of the bobbies.

 Close-up of Parliament building.  Very ornate.

 Parliament building.

 Parliament building.

 Parliament building.

 Inside the Parliament Hall, where so much long-ago history has taken place.  Almost a reverent place. (It dates to the 1100's.)

 This is the plaque on the floor of Parliament Hall marking the spot where Sir Thomas More was condemned to death.

 This, again, is on the floor of Parliament Hall and marks the spot where Winston Churchill lay in state.

 The end of Parliament Hall.  Directly behind us is the throne the Queen uses when she opens Parliament.

 Parliament Hall.

 The Queen Mother lay in state here.

 Parliament building.

Big Ben.  (It just occurred to us that we have a "Big Ben" (Pykles) in our family.)

St. Patrick's Day in Dublin, Ireland!

Dear Family and Friends,
Certainly the big news of this week is that we were in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day!   We add the punctuation more because it should be exciting than that it really was such an amazing experience.  We say that because the expectations for St. Patrick's Day is a really big thing here.  There are so many tourist here just for the holiday and the city was bustling.  To show how much anticipation for what a big event it is, the main train line decided to stage their strike on St. P's so that it could show how powerful and necessary their services are when "everyone is in the city".   So we will try to share our experiences. 

We had heard so much about the Dublin Parade--that it is too crazy to even go downtown for, ---and that you can't miss it!  So we decided it  couldn't be too dangerous in the middle of the day, and to go for it.  We asked a few friends (investigators and newly baptized)  if they wanted to go, but they all said they would rather avoid it.  We have always driven to the city center, and it takes      20 -60 minutes, depending on the time of day.  We decided that we would make it our day's exercise and walk it.  We left at 10:00 for the parade at 12:00, hoping we would not be too late to get a decent place to watch.  To our surprise we were there is less than 30 minutes.  As we got there we found ourselves in the middle of the parade participants, but nobody was trying to get us to go anywhere else, so we enjoyed seeing things get organized.  We decided it was because we had on official looking name badges!

When we got to the actual parade route street it was not busy yet at all.  No blankets laid out or places saved except for the grandstands which we learned were sold out months ago at $60 seat!  We stood right next to them on the front against the street barrier and were soon joined by some Americans.  Most people including them wore wild green hats, socks, shirts, beads etc, but we didn't see anyone drunk or obnoxious.  We visited with the Americans and learned that the lady has a terminal illness and was working on her bucket list.  The Dublin St. Patrick's Day Parade was on the top of her bucket list!  Afterwards they were going to Rome (and had a ticket to see the Pope) along with a lot of other great plans.  We felt so lucky we had chosen to come after-all.  

Not to be stuffy---but we have to say we have certainly seen better parades--and we have not even seen the "big ones".  It was comical to us that these D.C.ers were more than a little "frustrated" that they came all the way to Ireland to see so many American marching bands.  As the Irish would say it, "it really did their heads in".  There were only about 3 marching bands that were not American--but they were fun pipe, drum, and bagpipe bands in complete kilt regalia.  We anticipated seeing some Celtic dancers--but there were none, and the "floats" were far from glorious.  None were automated:  they were pushed, and antimated with paraders using sticks and wires.  To make it even less exciting, because it was the 100 year anniversary of the Irish revolution, we expected there would be some great heritage pride, but the theme was something about "the next 100 years", and their idea of futuristic was far from Millennial glory!  It seemed like the opposite, even to suggest that the great accomplishment of St. Patrick to rid Ireland of snakes, would change and the snakes would come back!   We were glad we didn't have grandstand seats--and some of them left early.  So in a nutshell, we were underwhelmed--but we did see the whole parade and will not need to put it on our bucket list.

After the parade we took advantage of the holiday time off and spent the some time with our friends Priscila and Carlos, (the new member) and went to Powersgate about 30 minutes away.  It is an enormous estate where many dignitaries spent time about 50 years ago.  It has beautiful gardens and is now very touristy.  We ate lunch together and walked around ---not really away from the crowds, because it was a popular destination, but very nice.  the day was sunny, and bordering on warm enough if you wore a coat and kept moving.  We have been wanting to do something with them since Carlos' baptism but our weekends are usually so filled up, this was perfect. 

On Friday we did a few more "flat checks', worked on our preparation projects and that night, we had a celebration with the YSA group that turned out to be really fun.  We fixed food for an Irish Potato bar (actually they don't do potato bars at all--but it was Irish Potatoes) with shamrock cookies and lime floats.  We had a St. P Quiz game and Celtic Dancing.  It was great fun.  We helped a lot!  ----by making everyone feel very graceful as we tried our best to keep up!  Sometimes we really DO feel old, but we try to ignore it.   

 

Also we have been doing a lot this week to help everyone who can, get registered for the All-Ireland YSA Conference in Belfast this coming week.  We have made a "jillion" calls, texts, and general errands to help because the logistics between two stakes, two countries, and lots of concerns have not been smooth.  We think the conference will be valuable and fun.  The need for the YSA to get together with others from around the area is pretty essential for the young adults to find friendships and marriage possibilities. 

 

We have also been asked to be presenters for the YSA conference, so we have  been working hard to create a presentation that will be worthwhile specifically for them  Keep us in your prayers for this one--because we feel the need for the young people to see their careers as one of the most important decisions and preparations they make--and we  need to be convincing.  We make presentations every Sunday, at least, but we felt our "routines" would not meet the needs for the YSA, so we have been approaching this in a totally different way.  We have felt the Lord's hand in guiding us with experiences and people sharing their insights that have met a lot of our needs for this preparation.  Still we feel a little unsure if we are covering all we should and making it powerful enough--and fun.  We are needing to get it ready ahead of time because we leave Monday for a Self Reliance Conference in London and don't get back until Thursday afternoon,--- then teach the Finance Course that night and leave for the YSA Conference the next afternoon. 

 

And as for the traditional missionary work, we have not seen as much progress as we would love, but we are staying involved with a few.  Even when they want to, and try hard, making changes to have enough faith is a big deal.  We love them for their efforts and always pray for them--sometimes even stay awake at night thinking about how to help them.  Tonight we got home form Belfast and went over to the church for a quick errand and got involved in a new investigator discussion that was really incredible.  It is so powerful to hear people try to describe the feelings they are having when they feel they are led to the missionaries.  Our testimonies are strong, but they grow even more through seeing what others feel when they first encounter the gospel.  They really struggle to know what to call those feelings.  This great guy, Veoel, whose is strong and yet very sensitive said, "ooohh, the hair on my arms is feeling so....I can't describe it!"   He then told us about an amazing dream he had only a few weeks ago.  In his dream the Savior came to him, and called him by name.  He said he was surprised and said, "you know my name!?"  And the Lord said, " yes, I know you."  Then as he stroked his head because this man was feeling such trouble and need, He said, "Everything will be ok."    So Veoel said, "then in two weeks time I meet two sets of missionaries with this nametag I recognize, and I feel such a wonderful feeling here in this building.  I have been to many churches, but they are not like this.  They are cold and dark feeling.  They don't have any feeling.  I feel something here," he repeated probably 6 times.  And the funny part was as the young missionaries were trying to get the details in order to teach this man and his girlfriend, the man kept acting so surprised that he could really come back and be taught!  

 

We have been told to pray for the Lord to send the people who are already prepared to receive the gospel, because there needs to be a hastening of the work.  This is such a clear fulfillment of that effort.  We see that many of these are people from other countries, so we can't help but feel it is the gathering of the tribes of Israel, but we really hope for the people of Ireland to begin to respond to the gospel too.    They are good people, but have become quite disenchanted with religion for a lot of good reasons--but when their hearts are hardened it is harder for them to want it.  We hope we can see that  change in the time we are here.

 

Ireland IS beginning to experience spring. --Irish Spring soap bar :)  ---  The hedges are a little greener and daffodils grow in thick clusters all along the motorways.  More and more doors and windows are left open, and more and more clothes are being hung out to dry.  We have NOT been seeing rain every day, and we can walk a short distance without a coat on.  So we are going to make it through the winter

 

Finally, we have been feeling the miracle of Heavenly Father's love as we gratefully realize how blessed we are that Chelise is still doing well.  We are sad that she has been suffering such pain, and our prayers had been offered for her relief, but we had no idea that it would be such  a serious condition, and that such a miracle was given to preserve her life.  We thank you for your added faith and prayers--and of course we will continue to extend our faith through the next three months, that she can have complete healing and return to full activity.  She is a brave and faithful mother and steward in her ward, so it is hard for her to slow down even a little but we hope she will use all caution to stay our of danger.  We hope you know that although we may not know all your challenges, we constantly  pray for each of you and your safety and good health.  We love you all so much--and miss you.  When really good, or really funny, or really unusual things happen, we think of you and hope we can know how to share them. 

 

We encourage you all to continue in all the great things you do!  Our lives as children of Heavenly Father are important--and you are important to us!

We send basketsful of love--Easter Wishes, and chocolate egg wishes!  from...

Grandma and Grandpa, Dad and Mom, Elder and Sister Pettit

 

 

 

 These band members are getting ready for the parade - and we were right in the middle of it!

 This band was from - where else, but Colorado School of Mines!

 The Lord Mayor of Ireland's carriage.

 The Scottish bagpipe band.

 This was one of the "floats".  Weird.  That is St. Mary's Cathedral in the background.

 The "Up House" float.

 The means of moving the Lord Mayor's carriage (the horse, that is.)

 Our new-found friend, Judith, from Washington D.C.  On Easter Sunday she has an audience with the Pope in Rome.  She has Lou Gehrig's disease, and is doing her bucket list. 

 A parade watcher.  He should have been in it!

 

 The bagpipe (trumpet?) band in action.

 Smile!

 What are they?  We're not sure.

 The south end of a north-bound snake.

 Our friends Carlo and Priscilla at Powerscourt in County Down.

 In Powerscourt, there is a pet cemetery.  This is the grave of the jersey cow Eugenie, who gave 100,000 gallons of milk and had 17 calves.  Some cow!

 Powerscourt gardens.

 Learning Celtic dancing at YSA.

 Celtic dancing again.  The world's tallest Leprechaun is in the middle.

 Leprechaun again.

Celtic dancing. 

Patchwork Progress

Dear Family and Friends,

There is such a variety of things we experience --- a lot of good things and of course there are disappointments in every week of serving a mission, so looking back we try to see if there is a common thread or theme for the week, but instead it would be more like a patchwork quilt--maybe even a sunshine and shadow quilt, which is one of my favorites.  When light and dark colors contrast it is quite striking ---and in real life, when great things happen against the background of worries or challenges, it makes the good things shine all the more brightly.  This description may be a little stretched, but the patchwork of everyday certainly is not.  As we look back on any one day, and especially on a whole week, we can hardly believe how busy and how much variety goes into serving a mission.
 
Once again we have been in Northern Ireland and the far south with the Self Reliance work within only a few days, so it is no wonder that Dad gets pretty tired with the difficult driving.  But we have had some good experiences with the events that took us to the "edges".  Our trip to Belfast area (north) was combined with flat checks again--which is never easy.  We don't know whether it can get easier once we know where to find the apartments (probably so) but it gets frustrating to have the Sat. Nav.  (satellite navigator) not be able to take an address, so we make compromises with what might be close, check again later and frequently call the Elders or Sisters only to have them say something like, "we wondered if you would have trouble finding us because...." 

But more importantly our trip to Belfast was a blessing because of the good lunch meeting we had with the SR stake specialists, the Bowens.  It is not hard for most people to see the benefits of SR, but getting commitments to move things forward are not so easy.  We were happy to spend time with them again, and having them share some great insights how being self reliant has given them the blessing and joy of being able to give financial support to others was so refreshing to think about.  We think that it will help us with teaching the Young Adults in the upcoming conference and was even more valuable than our intentions for the meeting.    We had a similar blessing in a meeting with a ward specialist who is so anxious to get things set and going for his ward after we spoke there a week ago.    His influence is really going to be a blessing to his ward because he has such a personal testimony of the principles.  He told us about his experience with getting through law school and then through the almost harder period of interning to become a barrister.   He knew he was supposed to continue to pursue his career goals, though they were out of money -----and many people tried to talk him out of it, but including the Lord in his goal was what really brought the miracles. 

On Saturday we went to the far south of Ireland to the tiny branch in Tralee.  Tralee is a fairly good sized city and is booming with tourist business especially since Star Wars was filmed nearby.  But the branch is so small.  Once again some of the Saints have moved to areas where the church is stronger, especially after the depression of 2008, and some have become discouraged and are not so committed, but the Branch President and his wife and family are such faithful and great people.   The President has only been a member for 5 years, but he is so dedicated.   We couldn't get there and back in one day so we planned to stay overnight, but they insisted we stay with them.   They have four young children, who like our own grandchildren wanted to put on a skit--which turned out to be more musical with them playing their Irish flutes and doing the Irish dancing for us.  It was delightful and we regretted that we were having too much fun to go find the camera.The kids were so loving and fun. 

Their house is very nice and very unique.  When they were first married they both worked so they lived on one salary in a trailer home, and built their home without a mortgage with the other income--for five years.  It actually took them 7 to finish it, but they did it totally themselves and it is great.  It has modern amenities with clever design and is quite far out of town.  With all their resourcefulness though they really have to be careful with money because their two youngest have such severe eczema.  The youngest is going to have surgery in Dublin at the end of March.  Her eczema seems it could not be worse than the extreme condition on her face, but the worst is her esophagus.  She has to be on a feeding tube because eating is so painful she chooses not to eat much.   But she was darling with us.  After the kids went to bed we stayed up and talked for a long time about whether SR could help their branch or not.  President Knight and his wife really would like to start their own businesses--which is one type of class so we hope they can get things settled enough with their medical concerns to be able to do it and help others in the branch at the same time.

Another highlight of the week was a baptism on Saturday of a young man from Brazil that we have been working with a lot.  He is very skilled in IT, but came to Ireland to learn English.  We have been involved in a lot of his missionary lessons, but he is  also in one of our job-search classes and we have been helping him especially  to find work here.  On Tuesday we took him out to an innovation  complex and to an industrial park to check out the possibilities for employment, so it was wonderful to see him get baptized.   He is such a nice person and baptism made him so happy.  If he doesn't find work soon, he may go back to Brazil, so we were happy he did not wait.  His biggest problem is, on a student visa he can only work part time.

Nick is another young man we have been working with, both with work and missionary lessons.  He is having a much harder time because as he has met some hard trials, he gets set back on his smoking.  It seemed that he was losing ground for a while, but we feel he will gather his determination and start progressing with faith again.  And Morris, from Botswana keeps us totally guessing!  Just when we think his response to the lesson was good and he truly wants the gospel, then we think we have lost him---because he doesn't answer messages.  Then out of nowhere he shows up at the baptism with a smile and good news about getting a new job and how being at church always brings good things to him.   Then not at church again!   It is not easy to care about these people so much and to not know how things are going to turn out for them.   

And for the last quilt piece, we have been quite busy with YSA.   Last night we had a fireside rebroadcast of the Face to Face time with Elder Holland, Sister Stevens, and Elder Halstrom.  It was a wonderful broadcast for YSA.   Sometimes we wish we could work full time with YSA , and sometimes we are glad we are not because sometimes they are like the wind in Ireland---unpredictable.  But just like spring is coming, things are getting gradually smoother.   Institute is usually well attended, while  other events are not quite as well, but how can you complain when the most important part is great?    New leaders are called so the old ones can just take care of the summer conference in Dublin, and there is a good hope in the wind  to do some overall planning. There are some really great young adults who sincerely want to rebuild the program by helping find and reactivate those who got "lost". and we are presently looking forward to a St. Patrick's Day party with Irish Celtic dancing and Irish food--probably just a potato bar.  In ten days we all go to Belfast for an all UK  convention, so we are trying to tie that down with applications in too. 

Well, that is about it for the patchwork week.  There is a lot of excitement for St. Patrick's Day coming this week--equivalent to 4th of July--when they will have a big parade and light the city green.  We may or may not join in the fun, depending on whether or not it works out to be a good day to continue fellowship with Carlos and Priscila. and what else the day could be used for, but we hear the tourists are coming in! 

We wish you all good Luck O' the Irish for your own St. Patrick's Day fun.
Hugs and PINCHES!!
Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, Elder and Sister Pettit

 This is inside the CityWest business park - one of the prettiest we have seen, with many big companies.  If only we could get the Irish youth to aspire to work here!

 We took Vinicius (from Brazil) to leave his resume at the companies in this "Innovation Campus."  He has great IT skills, and really could work for any one of these companies.

 Look at these cute St. Patrick's Day children's clothes.  We wish we could send some home.

 Vinicius Valpote on his baptism day.  What a neat experience!

 This is our friend Morris from Botswana.  He is investigating the Church, and we are hoping he'll accept baptism some day.

 This is the home of the Knights, in Tralee, County Kerry.  He is president of the Tralee Branch, and they built this home themselves, debt-free.  We stayed here on Saturday night before teaching in the branch the next day.  This is out in the country on 1.5 acres of beautiful Irish countryside.  The challenge in these small branches is the distance.

 War memorial, Phoenix Park, Dublin.  Pretty big.

 

 
Fallow deer, Phoenix Park, Dublin 
 

.

Deer, deer, everywhere.

Light Reading

Dear Family, and great Friends,

When another week rolls by and we are realizing it is time to share our experiences, we find ourselves checking the calendar and reflecting on all that has happened.   If we say that the weeks seem long, it is not that we are so bored or having a hard time ("time flies when  you are having fun")--- but it seems like we have so many things that happen each day, that we are quite surprised when we look back on where the week began.   This has been a week of a lot of variety and so we apologize ahead if it sounds like bits and pieces:

As you know, our main responsibility is Self Reliance, and we feel we have had such a good variety of events for this work.  On Wednesday  we held our second week's session for the young adult classes.  Dad is working with the "My Job Search" and Mom is working with the "Education for Better Work"group.  We wish we could say that everyone came --and fully prepared, but since not, we at least feel that we are moving forward and getting some pretty good results.  It is hard to describe the challenges that the people face.  There are so many uncertainties and challenges for them to even make commitments for 12 weeks; distances to travel for example, are significant, either fairly expensive bus fares, or long (30 min) walks, or even longer(1 hour) car drives.    We hope we can keep it holding together and bring some blessings to the lives of those who have started. 

On Thursday night we also held the "Devotional",  or starting meeting,  in Dublin, for the Finance class we have been given permission to pilot both in Dublin and Belfast.  (Belfast is not ready yet--but we still have hope.)   We were planning on the Stake Specialist managing that meeting, but she called a few hours ahead and was unable to come because of a serious migraine, so we dropped everything and put together what ended up being a good meeting.  Once again, the numbers were smaller than we had hoped because we had been advertising a lot through the wards, but since we are rarely here we don't know how strongly it was presented.  However, the area manager was happy with the numbers and we felt the quality of people there was wonderful.  So we launched that ---and sent out more reminders for "last call" invitations to come this week.

Mid week we have also been working on preparing materials for business contact efforts, and continue to work with young adults on job resumes.  So many young people, especially immigrants are needing help with their CVs (resumes) and ideas on getting work.  We are trying to be sensitive to personal needs.  Our extreme effort was again for our investigator friend, Morris.  He had been so discouraged on Monday in the middle of the night, then we got another text from him at 3 a.m. that he needed help getting from one job. (1/2 hour drive each way) to another job interview  (1/2 hour drive each way in a different direction )  because the busses wouldn't make it in time.  Poor Dad!! By the time we did all the driving it was a full 3 hours and a big chunk of sleep time.  But we "had" to do it since Morris was trying so hard to get more/better work. 

On Sunday, we presented in a more near-by ward for Self Reliance and got such a great response from their Specialist and ward leadership.  We will be meeting with them again this week, and are happy to see them wanting to get going even on their own.  The Stake is calendared to start a block of classes soon and we are trying to get a strong message out, but they are anxious to get moving on their own.  This is the best news and best way to do it,----in the wards.

On Saturday, we had planned to go up to the coast of Ireland for "flat checks" and take our newly baptized friend Carlos and Priscilla with us--but the weather was not that great for sight-seeing  at The Giants Causeway,--- and Dad needed to be careful to not get a full blown cold, (10-12 hour round trip) so we stayed closer to home and ended up going with our YSA Rep, to the proposed YSA July All Ireland Convention site in a National Park just an hour away.  The place is called  Glendalough and it was really beautiful.  (We will take any visitors there for sure.)   It has some pretty cool 900-1200 AD buildings and cemetery, a pretty lake and forest, and youth hostel that sleeps about 125 people.    We have reserved to rent it  exclusively.    Best part of all it has a tall ancient tower with folklore that if a maiden runs around it 3 times counterclockwise, she will be married in 6 months!   We think it will be great advertisement for attendance.  The girls will want to run it, and the guys will want to know who wants to run it!!

On Sunday, we had some worrisome hours over our investigator friend, Nick.  He has been doing so well, working hard and long hours to get some money ahead, and to get his government work permits.  He has still been working on his tobacco addiction and making a little more progress, but not quite there.  He is not sure if his testimony is completely solid, but he has come a long ways.  We told him we would fast for him on Sunday, and encouraged him to not work, but come to Church (he has the work option).  While we were driving out to our meetings to present in combined Rel. Society /Priesthood a ways away, we got a call from the Elders that Nick was in trouble.  They said he was so upset they weren't sure what had happened but that $350 had been stolen.  We were sad because just the night before we had talked about the risk he was in that roommates might steal his money because they gamble and are down on rent.  He said he might bring us his money to keep.  They asked us to call him and see if we could settle him down--- because just to look at him you can tell he knows the meaning of retaliation.  (He is the one with missing teeth and lots of scars.)  When we called, we had to talk like crazy to get him to promise to not go break in the windows of the guys car, ---OR beat him up!  We helped him see it was just money and he was not hurt, so just let it go.    He didn't go to church --no surprise!--but in the afternoon we called to see if he was ok and asked him to come to the fireside for investigators and new members.  He was not happy, but finally consented to come.  Then we got the story.   On his happy way to Church, he was stopped by a stranger who asked for him to help with rent money.  He told him no, but then the guy said he was desperate and would sell him his expensive new ipad.  It was a good deal, and he thought he could at least sell it, or he was doing well enough to maybe buy it for himself.  When he was getting out his money, the guy switched the bag for one with a block of wood in it.  Of course he sped off before Nick realized the scam!  At the fireside, he was quite sullen, but as testimonies of valiant new members were shared, it touched his heart in just the right way.  Each one had overcome Word of Wisdom problems and succeeded and were so happy to be members now.  They were awesome examples of the transformation of living the gospel.

Even for us, it was hard to believe they had been members for so short a time.  It is wonderful to be in the mission field and see the strength of so many who are converts.  They are bright, wonderful, outgoing people who have taken advantage of the Atonement and repented and changed their lives.  One man about 50 was so great.  He introduced himself to us before the meeting began and we had no idea he could have been a recent convert.  We though he was there to support someone from his ward.  When he told his story of coming (being led from) South Africa, it was hard to believe.  He told how he was an alcoholic, a drug user, an extremely corrupt policeman who broke all the laws and got away with it because he was an officer etc. etc.  When he came to Ireland he decided to change his life, and he was so happy to find the church.  Now he is just a bus driver, but he loves making people happy, and he is one of the happiest people we have met. 

A young couple searched out the Church because they had changed their loves from all many vices, to keeping the Word of Wisdom and being morally clean, and thought it was good to check out a church that taught all those things.  They said they finally had to go into the Church on Sunday because they were afraid people would think they were "stalking" the Church because they came so many times without going in.  When they went in, everyone thought they were members.  They said is this your first time here?--meaning the ward, not realizing it was their first time in any church!  It was so cute!   They are so excited they can be married for eternity. 

And the third guy was just as fun with his effort to learn the gospel for himself in Ireland--because his girlfriend was checking it out in Slovakia, and he didn't want to just go along with the idea.  He, like the others was so neat and clean and happy and have such mature testimonies.  He and his now, fiancé are both baptized and will be married soon. 

Lots of details there, but the great part was Nick said he saw himself in each of those people and by the end of the meeting he was so happy he was laughing and wanting to take pictures with us.   There were about 6 other investigators there (one other one we have been working with on jobs and is in one of our classes) and everyone was so friendly and happy at the end.  It is tremendous how the Spirit can change lives--even in an hour or so.    We read an Ensign article (March) called "The Light" by Elder Lawrence, that seems to describes this phenomenon of change.  He says:  "When it comes time for each of us to be resurrected, how will the Lord determine whether we receive a telestial body, a terrestrial body, or a celestial body?  The answer is easier than you may think.  If we have accumulated enough celestial light in our bodies, we will be resurrected with celestial bodies.  If we have only accumulated enough light for telestial or terrestrial bodies, that is the glory we will receive in the resurrection."    The glow of Saints by following the light of truth is as real as the light around the angel Moroni.  We just need to keep adding the perfect light to ourselves all through our lives.  We are trying to do all we can to help others see the source of Light we can all access in our lives.  The work is pretty constant, but we have an incredible variety of ways we get to serve and we hope to get to be better missionaries as we get more practice. 

We send our love to each of you.  We love getting your letters of updates and encouragement.  We constantly pray for all of you and appreciate your prayers for us.

Hugs and Kisses,
Elder and Sister Pettit, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma

A rare sight:  an Irish sunrise when the sky is clear enough to see.  This was taken early in the morning as we were waiting for our investigator to come so we could take him to work. 

Two investigators at the New Member Fireside on Sunday night.  On the left is Venicius Pastore from Brazil, who is so ready to be baptized, and the one in the middle is our good fried Nicolae Cercea from Romania, about whom we have written so much.  After the picture, Nicolae said to Elder Pettit: "You and I are the most handsome ones here."  Elder Pettit replied:  "You are #1, and I am #2."  He laughed for the first time on a very hard day.